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LIVING IN IRELAND, you’d be forgiven for thinking that you’d never see the Northern Lights or Milky Way without leaving the country.
Dublin photographer Ian Carruthers, however, proves that thought wrong with his astonishingly beautiful shots from around Ireland of galaxies, consolations and – you guessed it – the Northern Lights.
Carruthers, who has always had an interest in photography “but only really started taking it seriously” in 2012, “is passionate about capturing rare moments,” he tells TheJournal.ie. “Whether it be a stunning early morning sunrise, a storm raging outside or a meteor shower lighting up the night sky.”
“For me, it’s always been exciting capturing light from distant stars, nebulae and galaxies and sharing my passion online.”
However, it’s not as simple as heading outside at any given moment and coming back with the winning photo: “Sometimes a few months or even a year passes by before you get the perfect conditions,” says Carruthers. “Finally getting the shot you envisioned gives a great sense of accomplishment after all the planning and travelling.”
Having travelled around the country, Carruthers, whose camera of choice is a Nikon D750, says he has big plans for the future: “Going forward, I have many places still to visit, especially in the west. Once I have them ticked off I hope to publish a book showcasing the night sky of Ireland.”
He shares his work on his Instagram account, @irishskies, with prints available to buy.
Below, the self-proclaimed “weather and nature addict” shared with us nine of the best places to take magical photos of night skies around Ireland – and a few tips on how to get the perfect shot…
Patience and perseverance is what I needed to get this shot of last June’s Strawberry full moon rise over Poolbeg Lighthouse.. Four months passed before the conditions all came together and to know the exact point I needed to be at for this alignment. You only have a matter of minutes to adjust your position if you are in the wrong spot before the moon is too high.
The moon gets its red colour at moonrise due to the refraction of light through the thickest layer of the atmosphere. An app called PhotoPills is what helped me find the exact spot the lighthouse lined up with the moon at moonrise. This shot was taken using a 500mm lens at a distance of over 4km, so the compression effect of the lens makes the moon look larger.
Being interested in meteorology and maths, I also have a interest in space weather. Some people think they need to travel to the Arctic to get a chance to see the aurora boreali (the Northern Lights), but with some prior study of aurora conditions, you can see it from many locations around Ireland a few times a year.
On this particular night in 2016 it was strong enough to see from the Hill of Tara with the naked eye. You could visually see the veil-like curtains dance ever so slowly across the sky. The long exposure capability of a DSLR was able to unveil even more of its stunning array of colours.
Along the south coast of Ireland away from any of the big towns or cities is pretty much a prime location to view the night sky as there is very minimal light pollution. Hook Head Lighthouse is one of those spots.
On a clear, moonless night you can visually make out our nearest galactic neighbour, the Andromeda galaxy. The lighthouse itself has little effect on light pollution as the light’s concentrated direction is out to sea and not up to the sky.
Along the Copper Coast Geopark, Ballydowane beach is a great location to view the night sky. At certain times of the year, the Milky Way can be seen with the naked eye. Taking a long exposure shot with a DSLR can unveil faint dust lanes and nebulosity.
This shot was created using a long exposure technique of capturing the motion of the stars through the sky over a period of time. This shot is roughly one hour’s worth of long exposures.
I took this last February of the winter constellation of Orion and The Pleiades star as they clustered over Ardmore Strand.
Another great spot to observe the night sky. At a certain time of year, the Milky Way lines up with the upper lake and can be a sight to behold with the naked eye. It’s made even more dazzling with long exposure photography.
Kerry is renowned for its dark skies. It even has gold tier dark sky status via the International Dark-Sky Association. However, what it does not have is gold tier weather. So you can be very grateful if you get a night of clear skies and no moon to really appreciate the views of the cosmos.
This is a recent shot looking over towards Valentia town with a Perseid meteor caught on camera.
Using a small lantern and the Milky Way as backdrop, I created this shot called ‘Holding A Star’. Wicklow is the closest spot to Dublin with reasonably good dark skies for viewing the night sky.
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I doubt if FFG has any more room under the carpet
@Shakka1244: There’s a swing somewhere no-one uses anymore, could hide it there!!!!
@Will Thompson: It’s a magic swing, makes people disappear!
@Will Thompson: Yeah and still get well paid at the same time.
The lack of transparency shows a lack of respect for the public which is disgraceful!
@Nuala Mc Namara: the electorate aren’t worthy of respect. It doesn’t matter what FFG do, they get voted back in again. The public doesn’t hold them to account so why treat them with respect?
The government parties know that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want and get voted back in irregardless so I doubt they care too much.
what happened to the, nothing to fear ,nothing to hide mantra that we’ve been hearing from fg about this card…. publish the report if there’s nothing to hide
The Government need to seriously examine why they are held hostage to bad or unworkable ideas like this one, the National Broadband Plan, the Children’s hospital, the strategy in the MauriceMcCabe saga, the Housing policies that are making things worse, etc, etc, etc. They defend these bad ideas to the death and line up ministers to defend and deny until the bitter end. Admit mistakes were made, learn from them and move on. It’s Ireland anyway. It’s not like admitting mistakes will cost anyone their job.
@Sean: all governments use thinktanks as their special advisers, usually made up the topdogs in finance, media and so forth….it is they that run countries.
@Sean: this government’s broadband, hospital, hse and homeless strategy is going exactly to their plan
@Sean: Everything the FG government does, in collusion with it’s coalition partners FF, is done according to policy decisions driven by FFG’s political dogma. FG are hostage to nothing but their political dogma.
FG have always despised the poor, the low paid, the less well off, the unemployed. They don’t govern on their behalf, they rule over ordinary people for the benefit of the rich, foreign private investor corporations, corporate interests. The IMF oversees any decisions the FG minority government makes. The IMF, the world’s privateers and asset strippers, dictate policy as agreed with Noonan to sustain the rotten and corrupt banking system in the country.
FG have no mandate to force such policies on the country. When you go into a GE after being part of a coalition government and you lose 26 seats in that GE you have lost any mandate to govern. This FG minority government is sustained by way of secret backroom deals made with a party that is bound by the constitution to oppose the government and hold it to account for the decisions it makes. That makes a total mockery of the democratic process in the country. FG and their partners in government,FF, don’t make mistakes. Everything is deliberate and according to plan.
This is ridiculous at this stage, whos behind this? Whos benefiting? I guarantee there is absolutely no benefits to the taxpayer but someone is benefiting. Fg are so belligerent about this and it stinks of a scandal and/or tribunal down the road
@Thomas Maher: it’s definitely gonna cost the state in payouts.
@Thomas Maher: If you say nothing I’ll give you half of this big brown envelope I just happened to find!
@Thomas Maher: The benefit for government is the potential for control over the lives of the citizens of Ireland.
@Thomas Maher: A great FF benefactor is the beneficiary!
Why would they . They are spinna gael
@Leo Lalor: Another minister incapable of the position they were appointed to.
It will be interesting to see how the Facilitraitor Party reacts?
Time to remove FG labour FF from Irish politics, 10 years this has gone on and now the countrys data protection agency is being attacked by them for telling the truth, they have behaved illegally.
@@mdmak33: What are they hiding??? Who got the contracts?
@TamuMassif2019: the same people that make the passport, the very thing they are making it compulsory for, how odd!
@Commentator: So you think that they be charging a massive fee for these cards next??? lol.
@TamuMassif2019: @ 60 mill I reckon they’ve already done that!
Can I ask a question. Maybe I’m totally off the wall but what are peoples problems with having a card with all their information on it ? Wouldn’t it make it easier for dealing with all depts eventually and rather than having to fill out forms and bring lots of stuff with you all you would need is the card ? I know there is a fear of the information being accessed improperly but surely if this was safeguarded everything would be ok. Move with the times and all that
@Declan Moran: you’re new here, aren’t you?
@Declan Moran: most people don’t have a problem with such a card. What most people have a problem with was the PSC’s compulsory nature; the fact that passports or driving licences – both legal and valid forms of ID – were to no longer be accepted; the way it was handled in that it was de facto a national ID card but without any legal basis; the fact that the government refused to debate it in the Dáil; and the fact that the government has already proven that they cannot safeguard the privacy of the information held on these cards. As for “rather than having to fill out forms and bring lots of stuff with you” – well, you still had to do that.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: thanks Brian. I hadn’t the energy.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: if you’re not adopted, an immigrant in dp, etc etc
@Mike Rugby Nuts: I feel like I’m missing the entire second half of your sentence. What point are you making about if “you’re not adopted, an immigrant in dp [sic]?”
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: dp is Direct Provision, I was too weary of FFG to finish that sentence.
@Mike Rugby Nuts: I figured that much out the first time around. Your sentence still makes no sense to me. What about adoption or immigration are you trying to say, and how do they relate to the PSC?
F them all out.
Everyone should just sue the department and the government.
@The Irish Bull: Good man and make all our lawyers billionaires.
Remove FFG..
It’s all very clear since the report went into the hands of the government that they intend to continue on with this illegal instrument. It didn’t matter what the DPC had to say in the report, it never mattered that legal experts told the government time and time again that there is no legal basis for this card, that people’s right to protection on their private and personal data and it’s abuse by this FG minority government was being ignored.
FG want this Biometric National ID Card by the back door as the means to control the lives of its citizens. Just as in India, the Aadhaar Card, the nation ID card there is being used illegally by the Indian government. The card has put the people of that country under the most draconian and intrusive surveillance. It will be put to the same use in Ireland if this government isn’t stopped.
It is as clear as day that this PSC is no benign instrument in the hands of this minority government and they will fight tooth and nail to keep it and to hell with the legalities.
Keep the Peasants in the dark
@Geoff Bateman: Under foot in the mud?
Sure why would they do the right thing, these mutants of FFG know full well that the deluded supporters they have who are stuck in the me fein, parish pump minset, will still vote them in no matter what
So much for our democracy! Openness, transparency my foot!!
So how much can I sue them for?
@Harry Trafford: The legal eagles reckon the payout for anyone that sues over the PSC is in the region of 15,000 euro.
Another mess covered up
There’s a great book called IBM and the Holocaust by Edwin Black. It describes what happens when the government knows too much about the citizens.
This govt believe they are answerable to nobody. Who Fianna FAIL. Sure they say nothing. Toothless. And the rest. Hmmmm
have your say